News

Saturday, November 21, 2009

After dropping their opening round game to Grace Bible College in disappointing fashion, the Calvin Knights rebounded with an 85-78 victory over Lake Forest College on Saturday.

The Knights opened the game shooting hot from the field and transition points got Calvin out to an 8-1 lead early. But the Foresters battled back to take a 9-8 lead and the teams traded points for most of the first half.

Eventually, Calvin’s scorching hot shooting was too much for Lake Forest in the first half. Calvin shot 64% from behind the arc with junior Danny Rodts contributing 14 points off of 3-3 shooting from three-point territory. Brent Schuster also displayed his mid-range talent with 8 first half points of his own. A John Mantel buzzer-beating three from the right wing gave Calvin a 49-44 lead going into the second half.

Lake Forest hung around in the second half, despite strong efforts from Calvin’s Mantel. Mantel exhibited the inside presence Calvin so desperately needed in their first round game. His baseline fade-away and “and-one” efforts maintained a Calvin lead in the second half. Halfway through the first half, however, the Foresters tied the game at 63, and later took a two point lead. Freshmen Bryan Powell then stepped up and hit a crucial three-pointer to give Calvin a 68-67 lead. Calvin then continued to bang the ball inside. Another tough lay-up with a foul for Mantel gave Calvin a six point lead, which they controlled through the remainder of the game. Free throws and rebounding kept Calvin on pace, concluding an 85-78 victory for Calvin.

Mantel led the Knights in scoring with 23 points. He was also the leading rebounder, with eight boards to his name. Rodts finished with 20 points of his own, and shot 5-10 from the field.

“I told the team before the game, we are going to find out a lot about the character and hear of this team. We were mentally really good. We were very enthusiastic with a lot of talk and encouragement,” said Coach Kevin Vande Streek.

Vande Streek added that he was excited to see more success in the paint, something he feels should be a strength of the Knights.

On the overall performance of his team, Vande Streek concluded, “I’m disappointed with didn’t win the tournament, but in the big picture that’s not the biggest thing. We gained experience.”